A LITTLE MERMAID Live Musical is coming to ABC, in case the new movie isn’t enough

The Little Mermaid will see not one, but two new adaptations in the coming years. According to Variety, Moana star Auli’i Cravalho will star as the eponymous Ariel in an ABC Live Musical, slated to premiere November 5, 2019. The production will combine music from the original film and the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, originally composed by Alan Menken. Lyrics from both Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater will be included.

In addition to Cravalho, Queen Latifah will play Ursula and Shaggy will play Sebastian the crab. There’s no word yet on who will play Prince Eric, Flounder, Scuttle, or King Triton, but Variety notes that more cast will be announced at a later date.

“The Wonderful World of Disney presents The Little Mermaid Live!” is produced by Done+Dusted. It marks ABC’s first foray into the live musical genre, where they’ll join NBC and Fox.

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Meanwhile, Disney is still preparing its live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, which is set to begin production in early 2020. Halle Bailey is the only confirmed cast member as of August 5; she will play Ariel. Rumored cast includes Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Harry Styles as Prince Eric.

Samantha Puc is an essayist and culture critic whose work has been featured on Bitch Media, them., The Beat, The Mary Sue, and elsewhere. She mostly writes intersectional pop culture analysis with a particular focus on representation of LGBTQ and fat characters in fiction. Samantha is the co-creator and editor-in-chief of Fatventure Mag, an outdoors zine for fat folx who are into being active, but not into toxic weight-loss culture. She lives in Montana with her partner and cats.